inFAMOUSE Son of Delson Rowe
by Roxas565656
Summary: This story takes place much after the game second son. the story follows the son of Delson Vex an anti hero who seeks revenge on lexicon for killing his family


Disclaimer: We do not own any of the ideas taken from the Infamous video game series, those are owned by Sucker Punch Productions.

Vex

I tore open the vault door and walked inside.

"So much cash," I muttered as I stuffed the money in my bag. "Hundreds and hundreds of these babies… all just for me!"

"You are one selfish conduit," a girl said behind me.

I stopped my money stuffing and sighed.

"I thought I subdued all you damn old cops. Guess I missed one," I mumbled to myself, sure this would be an easy fight.

"I am offended, Vlink, I'm not old nor am I cop!"

I stopped stuffing the money in the bag and turned to see a tall, skinny girl with pale skin dressed in a denim jacket and ripped jeans. Underneath the denim jacket she wore a black shirt. Odd enough, the shirt had a big smiley face on the front. I decided not to comment.

"Nice clothes. Does your name happen to be Jean?" I snarked. Horrible, I know.

She looked down at her attire and frowned.

"The name's Juneah, and put the money back and I won't have to hurt you."

I dropped the money and put my hand on my sword. "Yeah, I've heard of you. You're the conduit that put my best friend in jail."

Juneah sighed. "Once again, I must ask you—" But she got no further, because I had drawn my sword, my most prized and valuable possession. I stole it from a museum several years ago, though it took quite a while to shake off the authorities even months later. It was gleaming, slivery zweihander sword made from a steel alloy of some kind. The hilt was leather, dyed black. The guard wasn't that long, and hooked upwards at the ends. The blade was wider than the usual zweihander blade, giving it more power, but less balance. There were inscriptions on the pommel, guard, and blade. I didn't know what they meant—yet. I only know all of this because I asked my friend Edgar. He didn't know about the inscriptions.

I saw Juneah's gaze immediately became much sharper, more concentrated. I noticed she had stress lines between her eyebrows.

I swung my sword at her head. She lifted her hand and a blast of dark orange blasted my sword away, her expression remaining calm. I stared at her.

"The fuck lady?" I dropped my sword. No matter how much it hurt my heart, it had to be done. I grabbed her wrist, and threw her onto an ATM. I thought for sure she would have at least gotten hurt…but when she got back up, there was no sign of any damage. Also, her eyes were glowing red. Hmm…

"Damn, you're a lot like a tan—"

She rushed forward and grabbed my throat. Her purple painted nails pierced my skin. Obviously, she didn't care what I had to say. She kind of made me angry. I mean, my whole life I've never really been ignored. Hated, yes. Loved, maybe. Irritated by, for sure. Ignored? Nope, never. I have always been Vlink, the criminal, or Vex, the cool guy.

These thoughts came and went in a second. Juneah pulled her arm back and slammed me to the ground, headfirst.

*Owww,* I thought. I hated blurry vision. So annoying! But it was only a minor problem. Then…*Oh shit.*

For Juneah, who was standing over my face, was about to kick me in the jaw with one of her heavy boots. That would be a definite knockout. And…that meant no money for Vex! Damn! I couldn't let that happen!

I rolled to the side and grabbed her leg, pulling her down to the floor. *Odd, she didn't really put up too much resistance. Maybe she is weaker than I thought.* I quickly rolled to my feet and started to rapidly punch her face. I let my powers radiate from my hands to make the punches stronger, a trick I had perfected after many years of trying it out.

But, well, I guess this victory wasn't meant to last long.

After a round of punches she sat up somehow trapped my hand between her neck and shoulder. I then saw a blur of movement and a sharp pinch from my elbow area. All of a sudden, my whole arm exploded with pain. I let out a scream of surprise at the pain.

It hurt. My arm felt like it was breaking in half. As I was trying to bear the pain, Juneah disappeared. I turned to look for her.

Juneah was right behind me. She looked at me apathetically, but her eyes said *I don't really want to do this, but you've forced my hand.* I knew I would get no mercy from her.

"Dammit," I whispered angrily.

What happened next was painful. I pity myself as much as I would pity an observer, had there been anyone watching. After she pushed in my jugular, blocking my airway, she started slamming me into the wall. How was she so strong? Each time spots came into my vision. I could literally feel the bones breaking. Nose, a rib, my arm, another rib. I dimly remember screaming in pain until my voice was hoarse. Through my screams I thought I could hear her say "I'm sorry" once, real regret laced through her voice.

When it came, the darkness was merciful.

I woke up with a swirl of orange piercing me down to the ground..the police station? I looked around and saw Juneah talking to a cop. Juneah? A cop? Why was I captured? Then, it all rushed back to me.

I was here because of the almost-bank robbery, and the thorough beating (courtesy of Juneah) that followed. I winced at that thought, then experimentally moved to test the extent of the damage. Utterly surprisingly, none of my bones were broken anymore! I felt the top of my head, where I fell onto the ground yesterday. Nothing. Not even a little bruise. Did Juneah heal me? She could heal herself well enough. Well, I could get out of here easily enough, then.

Wait...  
>There's my money!<p>

I stared at the money, almost salivating at the sight of it. I'm sooo getting out of here.

This might take a little finesse…I slowly summoned my sword towards me, trying to keep it quietly sliding towards my now both-fully-useful hands. In spite of my caution, the cop saw the movement out of the corner of his eye and turned towards me.

"Oh, fuck this," I shouted, and quick as lightning, my trusty blade flew towards my hand. I raised my arms and slashed the orange (whatever it was) around me. I dashed towards my bag of cash, grabbed it, and ran forward, to the exit. Then, I stopped.

Juneah blocked me from getting to the white exit doors that softly whispered "freedom," into my ear.

"Damn it!" It was time for drastic measures.

Juneah looked at me, her face a mask. I could still practically see the gears turning in her head, and realized I needed to act fast before she figured out what I was about to do.

I summoned my cobalt power, and blasted a hole in the wall to my left. When I quickly looked back (against all of my training) I saw the cop hotly pursuing me, and Juneah halfheartedly summoning her trademark orange substance and forming it into a set of ethereal wings. The cop didn't chase me for long—he was a little out of shape. Juneah just let me go after the first block of running. Maybe she felt sorry for me? If she did, I feel bad. To be honest, I'm not that poor. I have a roof over my head and food to eat, what more do I need? (Okay, maybe I have a little more than just food and shelter)

~~~~~

I opened my door to be greeted by Edgar M. Thompson, my best friend.

"How the hell did you get in my house?"

"House... This is a fucking mansion. And calm down Vex, it's just me! You don't need to take your name literally," he smirked. Edgar was a guy with shiny, shaggy black hair. He had skin that was lighter than mine—slightly tanned. His shoulders were constantly in a half-slouching position. He wore black-rimmed glasses that he adjusted when he was nervous.

I got my enormous house from my parent's will. They were quite rich—my parents got their money running a shop in the suburbs of Chicago. I inherited most of their money and this house—their city house.

I frowned and sat down on my leather couch, ignoring my ebony-haired best friend.

Turning to my AI, I said "Zelda, be a dear and turn on the Blue Sox's game for me, please." I always treated my robot with respect…perhaps with more respect than my best friend. (Insert Zelda description here)

As Zelda turned on the TV, Edgar sat down next to me, holding a bag of popcorn. I looked at it longingly, but knew better than to steal from Ed. He was very possessive of his food, and would not let you off easy if you took some.

"Hey, Vexxy, you don't look hurt at all. I take it the bank run went as planned?"

I half-smiled at the dumb nickname. "Hell no, this stupid hero conduit fucking kicked my ass. The same one who sent you to the slammer."

Edgar stopped eating for a second. "Dude, that's a chick!"

I put my head in my hands and sighed. "No shit, Sherlock, she's a fucking tank! I threw her into an ATM and she didn't even get scratched. Besides, she's a girl you expect me to sucker punch her?" (I might have been making an excuse here, but that's for me to know, and you to find out!)

Edgar thought for a moment. "Zelda I need you to look up Juneah in the data base. We need to see how long has she been working for the cops."

Almost immediately, Zelda responded. "She doesn't work for the cops." Zelda was smiling strangely. "She is her own hero."

That explains the emblem on her jacket.

"Do you like it?" Juneah said coming out of nowhere. "I made it myself."

Made what herself?

Edgar yelped. I turned around and summoned my sword, on reflex.

"How the hell did you get in here," I yelled.

"Don't worry, I know what you're thinking. I'm just a holograph. I put a tracker on your jacket collar when you were unconscious." Just to make sure, I felt my leather collar and felt a small half-circle inserted there. This is probably why she let me go so willingly.

Hologram Juneah's face suddenly broke out into a radiant grin. "Don't worry you coward, I didn't report you to the cops. I only wanted you to consider your thoughts on us heroes. I know you're not a villain—you save people all the time." Juneah-Hologram looked seemingly directly at me. "Make the right choice," it said as it disintegrated into orange dust.

I looked at Edgar. "Man, I got to think about some stuff."

Edgar looked at me. "See ya tomorrow?"

I nodded. "See you tomorrow."

Edgar smiled at me and teleported away, leaving a red aura behind.

"Zelda patch me up and the make me some dinner. Then shut down for the night."  
>"Okay, do you want something in particular?"<p>

"Anything you cook up, sis," I said. "Thanks."

~~~~~

I woke up in the morning under a layer of blankets. The TV was off.

I guess Zelda came in to check on me in the middle of the night.

Zelda was an artificially intelligent droid that looked, spoke, and acted like a human. She was initially supposed to be a submissive servant, but Edgar helped me reprogram her to be the person she was. She was like a sister to me.

"Hey Zelda!"

"Yes?"

"I'm going to the training room now."

"OK, try not to wreck anything!"

"Will do." I ran out of my living room.

I went to the trapdoor in my kitchen (this isn't at all clichéd)… that was hidden under a flip panel of my floor (Tada! Told you. The old flip panel trick totally isn't overused), and opened it. The training room was under my house, and I had to climb down a metal ladder to reach it. The floor was packed dirt—wood was damaged too easily, and stone or cement would be painful to land on. The training room was dimly lit (It was thanks to Edgar that I had any light, and after training in the dark for a while, I would take whatever quality of light I could get) and the walls and ceiling were drywall, painted white. I walked over to my weapons rack and picked up a wooden sword. I looked at the roughly made training weapon in my hand.

Well, since Juneah whipped my ass in hand-to-hand combat yesterday, I shouldn't practice so much with my sword. I should focus more on mastering my elemental Cobalt power. Juneah's obviously mastered that power she has…it seems to be a metallic power of some sort. That would explain the high defense.

I blinked once, mustering the power resting in all the remote corners of my anatomy to the forefront of my mind, focusing it into one glob of energy. I inwardly sighed. There was still too little!

Oh well, I'm training for a reason. I slowly transitioned into the next step, which was transferring my energy and focus to the gateways of the mind. The gateways to the mind (oddly enough) are your hands. Yeah, it sounds ridiculous. But think about it for a minute, okay?

Your hands are a very important aspect of social interaction. What do you do when you first meet someone? Shake hands. If you and another person accomplished something important or significant, you high-five. You use your hands to pick up a pen (or a phone) to write to someone. Also, your hands are not only important to social interaction, but to learning also. You need your hands to write. In school, when you write an answer down, it stimulates multiple parts of your brain. Writing improves recognition, the skill of making connections, recollection of facts, and focus. So, in a way, when you learn, you not only learn thanks to your eyes and ears, but with your hands as well. I think the hands are actually a very logical gateway to the mind.

What, you're saying I'm not supposed to be this smart? Hmph. Well, soooooorrrry for expressing my thoughts. Haven't you ever read those annoying books on how to deal with being an angsty teen?

Okay, that was long enough. Last step now. I projected the power from inside my body to the outside world, forming a ball of a pulsating, blue substance between my two hands. I then turned my hands out and towards the target I aimed at.

Here's the moment I've been waiting for…

Aaaaaaand….!

Nope.

The large mass of energy I had drawn into the world split into seven little globs of power and disintegrated against the target I had initially aimed for. I sighed in disappointment.

I'd been getting this same result for about a week. I didn't really have the natural aptitude for harnessing my elemental power as other conduits did. I just had too little to begin with and not as much control over the release as I needed to.

I had heard that practice, practice, and practice increases your amount of power and the control you had over it, so the only answer, like to all hard things in life, was to practice the technique over and over again. And then one more time.

~~~~~

Two days after I resigned myself to a month of practice, I succeeded.

I stood in the wreckage of my poor, poor targets, which I had used countless times for shooting and knife throwing, dumbfounded.

Now the targets I had painstakingly handmade from the wood planks that were originally the floor of the training room…

…were utterly smashed into little pieces, smoldering with my blue energy.

I stood there.

And stood there.

Until…

A triumphant and radiant grin split across my face, the sun after a turbulent, abusive storm.

"Yes! Woohoo! Finally!" I jumped up and down excitedly in the wreckage of the targets.

I ran upstairs to tell Zelda.

To my surprise, I ran into her right about to enter the trapdoor, making worried little noises in her…throat.

"Zelda! What's wrong?"

Zelda looked at me and sagged (the best sag an android could do) in relief.

"Vex, the Lexicon are gathering at Lexicon Tower to discuss attacking Chicago."

The grin vanished off my face as quick as dew in the hot sun. "Oh no…" I hugged Zelda, then ran to the coat rack, grabbed my jacket, and jumped out the ground floor window, towards the Lexicon Tower.

~~~~~  
>There were two, inattentive guards near the window I was outside of. Heh, easy. I jumped up onto the window ledge, smashed the window, jumped top of the remaining conscious guard (I had accidentally knocked the other guard out with my foot when I kicked the window in), and knocked her out with a swift jab of my pommel to her temple.<p>

"Alright," I said, pushing the "Up" button of the elevator in front of the two now-unconscious guards.

I turned on the microphone of the ear piece I constantly had on me. "Zelda, what floor is the conference on?" This was a routine we've had since I started my career in crime. I go out to do the runs, and Zelda feeds me the info.

"98th floor," she replied back through the ear piece.

"Thanks." I kept the microphone on, in case I might've needed to ask for quick backup. The failed bank robbery had made me more cautious.

The elevator arrived at the aforementioned floor. Inside were guards holding guns that protectively encircled their boss, Alexander Lexicon, a tall man around the age of 30, a head taller than me, and much stronger. I hated this guy

Thirteen years ago, the Lexicon had come into my city and wrecked my whole life.

I can't remember it well, but here are the blurry details.

*Flashback*

One day we got a visit. At our door was Alexander Lexicon. My brother and I hid behind our mother as he explained he was in need of an army. An army of conduits. My mom hid us behind her legs. He threatened my parents.

"Delson," Mom had yelled.  
>"Flip, what's wrong," he questioned in a panicked reply.<p>

My father smoke-dashed out of an air vent next to my mother's side.  
>Alexander lifted his hand and a blast of concrete blasted into my mother's head.<br>My brother and I ran out from under her legs as she fell to the ground, not really knowing what was going on, with bewildered expressions on our faces.

My dad stood there for a moment, a tortured expression upon his face. He then grabbed my brother and me and pushed us roughly towards a hole in the wall, yelling "Go! Vex, take your brother and run!"

I still see his face in my nightmares to this day.

*End Flashback*

My hand tightly gripped the hilt of my sword. Then, I thought better of it, and sent multiple spheres of energy crashing into all the guards surrounding Lexicon on his pedestal. My aim was true, the whole score of guards were knocked stone cold.

"Vex, my boy," said Alexander, walking down from his pedestal. "It's been a long, long time."

"Who the hell is Vex?" I jumped and looked to my right.

Juneah walked out into plain view, then stopped.

"Vlink, what are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here," I asked.

"I was going to take on Lexicon," she said coolly. "Now, what are you doing here, Vex?"

"I'm here to kill him," I said harshly as I drew my sword.

She paused for a moment, her jade green eyes glinting as they raked over me. "Hey, you were Delson and Flip's son."

I frowned, not sure how to respond to the nosy girl. Fortunately, I spotted Lexicon sneaking behind Juneah. A much more important matter to deal with. I summoned a Co-bomb (what I christened the technique I used to knock out the guards, taken from the chemical symbol for cobalt combined with 'bomb')

"Juneah, are you going to help me or not," I asked roughly, blasting another Co-bomb at Alexander Lexicon. Juneah rushed forward and attempted to grab him. He sidestepped and grabbed her ankle, throwing her out the window.  
>I watched her soar through the open window. I didn't really know Juneah, if I did I probably wouldn't have liked her. But at that time, seeing someone so carelessly thrown to their death enraged me. I growled deep in the back of my throat and drew my sword again to charge at Alexander…when Juneah came flying back up.<p>

Juneah floated into the room being held in a large bubble. The bubble burst, and Juneah dropped to the ground, landing on her feet. A girl in all blue clothing jumped through the window after Juneah and started blasting steaming water. Based off of Lexicon's gritted teeth and red skin, it must have hurt, because Lexicon almost never showed pain.

"Hey Ina," said Juneah. Ina just nodded and smiled in response, focused on the task at hand. Ina was a girl with brown skin and dark brown hair. She had cerulean blue eyes. I saw her a few times before—mostly she spent her time with her boyfriend, Edgar. He had no problem with Heroes. I did. They've been together for about a year now, and loved each other dearly. She had a fierce and domineering personality, and yet liked to stay in the background, controlling things from there.

I started to slash at Lexicon's head, but he dodged each time. He took me by the throat and threw my zweihander to the ground. He then slammed my head on the pedestal he previously stood on.

I grabbed my throwing knife and stabbed him in the arm. (I was desperate)

Lexicon just threw himself at me and pinned me against the pedestal, throttling me. His face was utterly calm, and he hadn't even broken a sweat yet. My blood ran cold, and I knew then that we couldn't beat him.

"Zelda, get Edgar's ass over here," I choked out. I was glad I left my ear piece on.

"I'll go get him, his communications seem to be down." I heard the sound of Zelda's clinking robot feet.

Suddenly, a metallic humanoid figure formed from the metal of the elevator doors. It was probably the work of Juneah. The automaton knocked Lexicon down, and as a result, loosened his grip on me. I jumped up, gasping for breath and kicked him in the stomach.

…Or tried to. Lexicon shielded himself in a concrete suit at the last second, and simultaneously grabbed the metalloid figure by the leg and through her into Ina and Juneah, the latter who easily reduced the figure to a fine dust.

Suddenly, as Ina and Juneah were rushing Lexicon, Edgar teleported to my side, blasting a red beam of energy at Alexander. Alexander grabbed Edgar and smashed him into me. I slid backwards due to the force of Edgar slamming into me, and I hit my head on a pillar, knocking me out.

~~~~~  
>I woke up next to Edgar, both of us slung across the stairs leading up to the pedestal. Three girls, including Juneah and Ina, were talking.<p>

"Hey, Vex is awake," said a girl with dark red hair and chocolate brown eyes. I looked at the group of people in front of me. The brown-eyed girl helped me up.

She smiled at me. "Hi, I'm Sandra."

"Hi," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. She was pretty. Sandra had pale skin, freckles across her nose, brown eyes, dark red hair, and a thin face. Well, her body may not have been as…curvy as some, but her face radiated an inner beauty that I quite liked.

Juneah looked at Edgar and frowned. "Is the one in the armor okay?"

"It's not armor," Edgar said, stretching. "It's just a coat of mercury. Since I can conduct mercury's power, I can render it safe to humans and animals. I am wearing it as armor because its almost rubbery exterior cushions impacts and protects me very well." Edgar's Hg-armor seemingly melted away harmlessly, and he smiled at Ina. "It's thanks to Ina that I learned this special trick. She really is smart."

"Exactly why we make a good pair," said Ina smiling at Edgar "We're both smart." Suddenly, Zelda flew into the room.

"Vex, you're okay! I was worried when I heard you were knocked out."  
>"I'm fine, Zelda," I said as she hugged me<p>

"Is that an android," Juneah asked, peering at Zelda.

"Yeah, what about it," I replied.

Juneah looked away, at Ina. "Oh, nothing."

That's a little suspicious.

Ina cleared her throat. "We should leave. We've been out here for too long Lexicon vanished once he knocked you out, but by now he might've sent some goons after us." The rest of us nodded, and I was for once grateful for someone else being a leader.

"Well, I'd best get going." I stepped out onto the window ledge. "See you guys around." I was about to fly off when Juneah grabbed my shoulder.

"Vex, I'm glad you thought about joining the heroes," she said, holding my gaze.

"Who said I did? I'm only doing this because that man killed my parents."

"Well we all have a common goal," interjected Sandra. "We should all exchange information so we can all meet up again." I looked back at them. The group in the 98th floor of the Lexicon Tower were all heroes, except for Edgar and Zelda. My shoulders sagged. I knew this would happen eventually.

"Zelda, exchange my contact information set up a meet up point, please," I said. I turned to the others. "Just give her your phones and she'll plug it in to her database. That will enter my number in your phone," I said, and on that note, I created wings (a trick inspired by Juneah) and jumped out the window.

I got a knock at the door of my room.

Zelda's voice floated through the door. "Hey Vex, the Heroes are here."

"Did you invite them," I asked, jumping out of bed and slipping my jeans back on.

"No, but I told them to come here as a meet up point."

"It's 5 in the morning!"

"I felt like it was a good idea, since you usually sleep until 11 o'clock and almost miss your training time. Besides, face it Vex, you're a sloth, and we need to break you of this habit."

I grumbled some more as I got dressed. When I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth (not for any certain someone, nuh uh) I gazed at the person reflected in the mirror.

I had black hair, cut in a military haircut. Reflection me had brown skin. I had black eyes and a roundish face. No facial hair. I stood at 6 feet tall almost exactly.

I sighed. There's no time to brush my teeth.

I ran to the door and opened it. "Hi," I said shortly. "Come in."

After they came in, the Heroes immediately started explaining why they arranged to meet me so early.

Our apartment was destroyed…

…We can't stay at a hotel…

…The Lexicon took all the money from our bank accounts and our emergency fund...

…They almost killed us, too!

I looked at them and shook my head.

"That's what you get for being heroes," I said, glaring at Juneah.

She turned away, with her oh so heroic nose in the air. "I'd rather be a hero than an Antihero scum like you," she muttered.

Ina's face was a mask, but Sandra looked at Juneah and me with wide eyes. She tentatively asked "So…may we please stay here for a while, Vex?"

She's so polite…not like Ms. Perfect over there. I nodded. "There are four open spare bedrooms on each floor. Take whichever you want except the ones on the top floor." I paused for a second. Sandra was still looking at me with her soft eyes, and I was becoming distracted by them. "But… uh, other than that I don't have much food. Still, feel free to raid the fridge at any…" I got distracted again. "…Time. Umm, don't go into my room or bathroom. You may use use the guest bathrooms if you ever need to. Spare toiletries are in the cabinets under the sinks in the guest bathrooms." I finished abruptly and hurried off to the training room to work this goddamned blush off my face.

~~~~~

After my training I had gone to eat a solitary lunch, and sat in my room watching TV until I decided to make myself dinner. I went to bed at midnight.

"Vex!"

Ughhhh...

"It's eight thirty, wake the hell up!"  
>I opened my eyes Zelda standing over me wearing different clothing than her default setting had come with.<p>

"Where'd you get those clothes," I asked.

"The girls and I went shopping once you went to sleep," she responded.

I snapped wide awake. "With what money?"

"I gave them some of the money in the vault," she said, pointing to the open vault.

I sighed and got out of bed. I hated when anyone (except for Zelda) got their greedy paws on my money. Zelda's next words pulled me out of my sulky mood.

"Oh! Sandra got a gift for you at the Chinese market. I think you'll like it,"

"The one in China town?"

"Yeah. By the way, I made some Miso soup for breakfast," she said

I jumped out of bed. "What floor are we eating in again?"

"Third floor."

I ran out of my room to the bathroom with Zelda laughing behind me.

~~~~~

I walked into the dining hall and saw Ina and Saundra sitting across from each other at the table. Juneah was sitting at the head of the table. What? This was my house!

I angrily said "Well, looks like you guys made yourself at home here."

Juneah opened her mouth, an angry crease between her eyebrows, when Edgar teleported in.

"Hey guys." He walked over to Ina and hugged her. He sat down next to Ina. "Why are you all here?"

I tore my eyes away from the food on the table. "Their house got destroyed after the battle with Lexicon. They needed a place to stay."

We commenced the meal in a neutral, yet stifling silence. It seemed like Edgar and Ina were the only people who were comfortable with both Antiheroes and Heroes. Juneah and I occasionally threw hostile glances over the table, sitting on opposing sides of the table.

I broke the silence first. "So Zelda has new clothes," I said, looking at Juneah. "Anyone want to explain why?"

Sandra spoke up. "We needed clothing, so we bought some clothing from all around the city. I guess we got a little carried away… but we got you something at the market!"

I looked at her in anticipation. "Alright, what you get me," I asked excitedly.

Relieved that the silence was over, Sandra picked up a large box and gave it to Zelda to pass to me.

I opened the box to reveal two dao swords. I took them out carefully and swung them around experimentally. They were pretty well-balanced, but a little lighter than perfect. I found that I actually preferred them to my awesome zweihander.

"I studied your fighting style. You're very unbalanced with one sword, because it restricts your natural flowing movement, due to your slender form, because you need to use both hands on one hilt.

I frowned at the slender part. I know I wasn't buff, but to have a girl call you 'slender' kind of stings.

Sandra was continuing. "…but you get past that by using your powers to increase your strength."

How does she know all this detailed information?

"However, the usage of your powers as an aid to your strength saps your energy faster. Also, due to having a longer blade, it will be more useless in close combat, as opposed to the dao which is maybe half the length of your zweihander."

I scowled as she projected a clip from the security cameras of the bank that showed me throwing away my sword. It didn't help my anger that Juneah had a little smirk on her face.

"Juneah helpfully infused the steel of these dao with manganese to form a manganese-steel alloy that is much stronger than your tungsten-steel alloy. I also had her take some blue dye and infuse that with the blade too, creating that shiny, silvery-blue color that you seem to beliking."

I looked up from where I was admiring the blades and smiled gratefully at Juneah and Sandra. "Thanks guys. Can I test these out?"

Juneah nodded. "They're all sharpened and ready to go."

I eagerly preformed a basic double sword slash on the chair in front of me. It stood there, whole, for a second, then fell apart thanks to the 'X' shaped cut I made.

"Holy shit," I said, smiling. "I need to try these things out on some of Lexicon's grunts," I said.

~~~~~

"Zelda, I want you order me 8 computer monitors furnishing and pick up some stuff for outlets," explained Edgar, taking the money out of his back pocket.

"Edgar you realize this isn't permanent," I said.

"They have no intention of leaving," Edgar said. "Sandra even bought a bunch of stuff to decorate her room with. Ina... Ina beat me in CoD 18," he whispered. "There is no way I'm letting her leave without redeeming myself."

I sighed. "Ed, ya might as well move here too if you're always going to be around," I said.  
>"That's a good idea," he said puting on some goggles. "I might take you up on that.<p>

I stared at the sledgehammer next to Edgar. "What are you doing?"

Edgar took the sledgehammer and slammed it into the wall. "Oh just redoing the house. You know, all the geek stuff you refused to learn!"

If only he knew…

"Okay. Since you're going to be so noisy, how long will you be?"

"Maybe five to ten hours," he said, pulling a bunch of wires out the wall. I nodded and swung my jacket over my shoulders, then jumped out a window.

My family has always had a door phobia. Don't ask why. In my childhood, I'd almost never see a member of my family walk out of a door. It was always a window.

~~~~~

Damn! I forgot to bring money.

I looked around and spotted a guy at an outside bar holding a large amount of cash. He slipped it into his jacket pocket. I went next to the man to talk to the bartender as he slurped down a can of beer.

"Excuse me Mr. Bartender?"

"Yes?"

"Well I have come to your bar to ask a question," I said, slipping my hand into my target's jacket pocket. I felt around and found a phone, breath mints, some car keys, and the wad of cash. I took the cash and the breath mints. (Just in case)

This guy probably scammed the money off of someone else, anyway.

"What would that question be," he asked as I pocketed the money.

"My best friend is turning 21 tomorrow night. What would be the most fitting beverage for her party?"

"Well, it really depends on what the person…"

The man next to me started to feel around his pockets for his money. Alarm bells went off in my head.  
>I cut the bartender off midsentence. "Oh! Sorry, she's right here, gotta keep this a secret," I whispered conspiratorially, and prayed to the elements that someone would be there.<p>

Praise the elements!

Behind me was Saundra. She eyed me suspiciously. "Vex, put the thing you stole back in the man's pocket," she demanded in a whisper.

I took the breath mints out my pocket and slipped them back into the man's pocket.

Saundra pulled me over to the edge of the lake, away from the bar. She angrily folded her arms. "Vex! What the hell was that?"

"I didn't have any cash and I needed something to eat..."

"Cash?!"

I took the money out of my pocket and showed it to her.

"Vex," she exclaimed, pushing me. "Go give him the money back!"

"He didn't need it anyway! He was hammered anyway; and he probably stole it from some poor person! I was just returning the favor," I explained.

Saundra withdrew her hand then looked me in the eye.

"You're probably right." She uncrossed her arms and rested them on the guard rail. "You know, I might be starting to like you."

"In what way," I asked, leaning over the guard rails.

"As a friend...so far. I like you, but people see you only the Antihero.

I sighed resignedly. "Well, I guess now I'm a hero."

She smiled. "I guess that makes me a little glad."

I smiled back. "You hungry?"

She nodded. "Yep. That's why I was here in the first place."

"I can call Zelda and tell her to make some food. Maybe a roast chicken?"

"That would be fine but..."

"But what?"

Sandra grinned. "You have to buy me a smoothie!" She suddenly made an acrobatic leap up onto a roof top and started running away from me. I stood there, disbelief written across my face.

Sandra's head popped back into sight, maybe slightly confused.

"You coming?"


End file.
